Our first week of build season, beginning with kickoff on January 9^th, was action packed and full of fun!  This year our  student leaders and mentors did a great job of keeping everything simple and on track.  By the beginning of our Monday meeting on January 11^th, our design concept was decided and we began prototyping!  There was a flurry of excitement from everyone as we gathered to discuss what our plan was as decided on Sunday, January 10^th when the student leaders and seniors met to review the ideas collected at the kickoff meeting.

The girls broke up into subteams after the whole team was aware of our priorities and overall strategies.  Our programming team began to write drive code, while the design and mechanical girls began furiously prototyping.  The electronics girls were sure to help out wherever they could.   By the end of week one we had begun chassis fabrication and CAD was well underway.   We also helped to build some of the Stronghold field elements for the practice field.  The mechanical and design team girls worked tirelessly, making sure we choose the best materials and design for our robot.

While the high school members had just begun their season our junior members were knee deep in competition.  They placed 11th out of 24 in the Pittsburgh Area FTC Qualifying Competition at Shady Side Academy Senior School on January 16^th and are headed to north of Philadelphia in Emmaus PA for the “I Heart Robots!” Qualifying Tournament for another competition on February 14.  When they are done with the excitement of the FTC season they will begin shadowing the FRC high school members.

Week 1 of Build Season was a major success and eventful, while still being super fun.  Here’s the link to the Week 1 FiveAwesomeRobots video by Girls of Steel: https://youtu.be/Yr27lnFPuBE